Overview

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy.  Budget transparency checks corruption, bolsters public confidence in government, and promotes fiscal responsibility. Massachusetts has only barely begun to take full advantage of the benefits of online transparency for government expenditures. Transparency 2.0 is Comprehensive, One-Stop, One-Click Budget Accountability and Accessibility

Further, state budget decisions are often based on short-term considerations or narrow criteria that create larger costs over the long term. This short-term bias in budgeting takes a variety of forms: governments often fail to maintain adequate rainy-day funds. States take on excessive debt. They sell off public assets for short-term gain while compounding long-term revenue shortfalls. State agencies also tend to ignore operating expenses when planning capital projects. They also have a history of underfunding public-employee pension and benefit programs. These mistakes leave future administrations with large budget deficits that lead to unnecessary tax increases or painful cuts in public programs.